Unwanted guests turn sweet hosts for Assam butterflies
Invasive nectar and larval host plants in Raimona National Park, Assam, can support butterfly diversity when native flowers are scarce.
- Researchers surveyed butterflies, larval host plants and nectar plants in Raimona National Park during 2022-2025.
- Raimona National Park in Assam is part of a transboundary landscape with Bhutan.
- Lantana camara, Chromolaena odorata and Ziziphus mauritiana were important nectar sources for many butterflies.
What happened
Researchers from Bodoland University studied butterflies and plant resources in Raimona National Park in Assam between 2022 and 2025. They recorded 220 butterfly species, 56 larval host plants and 41 nectar plants in the 422-sq.-km park, which lies in a transboundary landscape with Bhutan.
The study found that some invasive plants often treated as ecological threats were also serving butterfly needs. Lantana camara, Chromolaena odorata and Ziziphus mauritiana were important nectar sources for many species, and several invasive plants also functioned as larval host plants.
UPSC may frame Raimona National Park as an example of adaptive ecosystem management. The issue links invasive alien species control with butterfly conservation, habitat heterogeneity, and the need to balance eradication with retention of limited nectar and host-plant resources in protected landscapes.
Related dispatches
